NASA said it agrees with an independent review board that concluded the project could cost up to $11 billion without major changes.
Responding to an independent review of
Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters. 'That is unacceptable to wait that long. It's the decade of the 2040s that we're gonna be landing astronauts on Mars.'He said the estimated price tag, which could go up to $11 billion depending on the options pursued, also was 'unacceptable.' The original target in a National Science Foundation decadal survey that recommended a sample return mission was just under $6 billion.
.As originally envisioned, the Mars Sample Return mission, or MSR, is the most complex robotic planetary science mission ever attempted, one requiring a new , in collaboration with ESA,' the review team concluded. 'However, MSR was established with unrealistic budget and schedule expectations from the beginning. MSR was also organized under an unwieldy structure. 'As a result, there is currently no credible, congruent technical, nor properly margined schedule, cost and technical baseline that can be accomplished with the likely available funding.
's science budget that was part of a congressional deal to secure funding for the debt ceiling.
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